[tlhIngan Hol] The unforgivable sin

[Terrence Donnelly]

I like {cha' qa'vIn HIvje'}, because it fits the logic of the N1-N2 phrase. If {yaS taj} means "of the universsal set of knives, the one of the officer", and {romuluS HIq} means "of the universal set of liquors, the Romulan one", then {qa'vIn HIvje'} is "of the universal set of glasses, the one with coffee," and {cha' (qa'vIn HIvje')}" means "of the set of glasses of coffee, two of them".
vuDwIj neH 'oH
-- ter'eS


      From: Alan Anderson <qunchuy at alcaco.net>
 To: Klingon language email discussion forum <tlhingan-hol at kli.org> 
 Sent: Tuesday, July 12, 2016 10:51 AM
 Subject: Re: [tlhIngan Hol] The unforgivable sin
   
On Tue, Jul 12, 2016 at 10:49 AM, mayqel qunenoS <mihkoun at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Qaghna'lIj vIngu'ta': HIvje' yItlhutlhQo'; qa'vIn'e' yItlhutlh!
>
> hmm.. I didn't notice it. So, to say in klingon "I drink two cups of
> coffee" gives the impression that someone is drinking the cups and not
> the coffee ?

I don't know of an example that tells us how to quantify coffee. It
could be the way you said it, {cha' qa'vIn HIvje'} "two coffee's
glasses." Or it could be the other way around, {cha' HIvje' qa'vIn}
"two glasses' coffee". Or it might be {qa'vIn cha' HIvje'} "two
glasses of coffee".

Or it could be that {HIvje'} is only the container and doesn't make
sense as a measurement in Klingon. It's hard to find an English
example that carries that feeling -- maybe "three wrappers of candy".
Perhaps to indicate an amount of drink one must talk of {tlho'ren}
instead, though the correct order of words is still uncertain.

-- ghunchu'wI'
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